This Week's Healthy SC Challenge Tips

Press Release by Healthy SC Challenge

This Week's Healthy SC Challenge Tips

First Family Encourages Healthy Changes in Nutrition, Exercise and Tobacco Use

Columbia, S.C. - May 23, 2008 - The Healthy SC Challenge is the Sanford family's effort to get all South Carolinians to do just a little more to live a healthier lifestyle. The tips are designed to encourage individuals and communities to live healthier lifestyles in three categories - nutrition, exercise and help to quit smoking. The tips can also be found on the challenge's website,

Healthy Tips

Nutrition

Pasta, pizza and burritos are favorite foods, and they can be a healthy part of your family diet. It depends on the ingredients used in making them. By switching brands or swapping ingredients, these foods can be an excellent source of whole grains, vegetables, and low-fat dairy. Start by doubling family-favorite vegetables in your recipe. Then switch to these ingredients: 100% whole wheat pasta or tortillas, 2% or part-skim cheese, extra-lean ground beef (94%-96% fat-free), nonfat sour cream, and salsa.

-Eleanor Taylor, SC co-author of Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family,

Physical Activity

Yoga is associated with a wide range of physical and psychological benefits that may be especially helpful for persons living with a chronic illness. Additionally, physical activity is an essential part of the effective treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to treatment guidelines published by the American College of Rheumatology.

Asanas are a series of poses designed to bring about greater health and well being. The poses are combined in a predictable sequence that addresses strength, flexibility, and balance of the whole body. Poses are held for variable lengths, depending on the experience on the participant, characteristics of the pose and the style of yoga being practiced. Most poses can be easily modified to account for a student's level of experience and physical condition. Some teachers utilize props, such as blocks, straps, or blankets to help students adjust challenging poses. While originally, the asanas were created to prepare the body for sitting still in meditation, they have evolved as a physical practice and are considered by many to be a moving meditation themselves. Asanas are the yoga practices that require the most guidance and special attention for individuals with arthritis. If something seems too challenging or causes discomfort, you and the instructor can arrive at an appropriate modification.

-The John Hopkins Arthritis Center,

Tobacco

No particular smoking cessation method is right for everyone. However, the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) suggests that all smokers trying to quit should use some form of drug therapy (such as nicotine replacement therapy or bupropion), if possible, in combination with some form of counseling, behavioral therapy, or social support. However, not all experts agree that pharmacological agents are needed by all smokers. Smokers should plan ahead and choose the methods that most closely conform to their personal needs. Since some types of medication are only available by prescription, it is a good idea for smokers to discuss their smoking cessation plans with a physician. Physicians can also provide counseling, and they can refer smokers to organized smoking cessation programs in the community.

-American Council on Science and Health,

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The Healthy SC Challenge is an outcome-based, cooperative effort aimed at encouraging individuals, communities and organizations across the state to show shared responsibility in developing innovative ways to improve the health of South Carolina's citizens. For more information about the Healthy SC Challenge, please visit